i went on a little self-guided walk that i found HERE of the almshouses or hofjes in the jordaan the other day. these houses with courtyard gardens were built for widows, single women, and the elderly beginning in the 17th century. lovely restful spaces. like secret gardens, they are well-hidden behind canal house facades. and the really cool thing is you can visit them! by yourself. without an organized tour. oh they have tours, but how much more peaceful is it to wander by yourself at your own pace and not have to listen to any excessive yackity yack?
the jordaan is my favorite part of amsterdam so far. the canals are quieter the bridges steeper. there are sunflowers and grape vines, flowers and vines sprouting from every bit of earth that can be planted. heart breaking loveliness everywhere. oh and also…there are cats. lots of cats.
after my garden walk i stopped in this pub for a luscious plate of hutspot. oy! mashed potatoes, onion, carrots, with some sort of sausage meatball and gravy. what's not to like? and all the better washed down with a glass of beer! this bustling cafe was playing lively polka rock fusion music. a v. fun place to rest my tired dogs and quench my thirst.
naturally i've gotten terribly behind in my reporting duties. i am dying to tell you about the boat i masterfully commanded down the canals of edam today. about the coffeeshop we visited in de pijp where a nice young man schooled us on the difference between ultra haze, trainwreck, and chocolope dope. then hooked us up to a vaporizer and took us for a ride. of course if i tell you about THAT i'd have to also tell you about the tram ride home and getting lost. and laughing. lots of laughing. oh dear.
then there's this paper i haven't mentioned.
and this paper.
and all the highly entertaining tram rides.
eventually i'll get to all that.
in the meantime i'll leave you with this big jumble of photos for you to sort through.
good night from amsterdam!
Thank you for sharing your travels with us…what I really want to know is…how many cars end up in the canals? I mean really? They park that close to the edge? I’d probably be on my zillionth car by now!! Just wondering if there’s any stats on that!!!
A new reader who is in love with Amsterdam now!!
Denise~
I love armchair travelling with you, Mary Ann. But I must say…
you have to investigate that new scratch and sniff app they have. If they don’t already have one….maybe I could get on it…Anyway….
I NEED TO smell everything you have shown…
Love , Love, Love this trip you’ve taken us on.
Cats, secret gardens, fuschia, canals, light, potatoes,more cats, AND Paper??!!! Be still , my rapidly beating heart.
Love it all….Thank you for going …and showing.
Peace,
~sass
Lovely, absolutely lovely. this is the perfect setting for my first date… strolling along a charming pathway until we come to a worn bench with a heart cut out, where we sit for a spell and I woo her with my poetry. Obviously she falls completely in love with me, and we make our way down by the canals hand in hand. A stray, big, orange and scrappy follows us we name him Stanley. My date wraps him in her sweater, so we can shop in a quaint store full of magical paper ( she wants to create a special book to keep all my words of amore in). Being ever so the gentleman I walk my lady friend home, where Stanley ditches me for a chubby, little tabby (She looked like a Libby to me). I head home reliving every captivating moment. When I retire for the evening I do not shower for I want to enjoy her perfume a bit longer.
OMG!!! I love that paper shop! Love, love, love!! Did you buy lots?? Amsterdam is a very beautiful city, especially the canals, the architecture, the food… Words cannot express how much I have I have enjoyed seeing this city through your eyes. I wish the trip could continue indefinitely, that is how much I love traveling with you!! Be safe, be happy, have fun!!
Hyperventilating – the canals! the houses! gardens! cafes! PAPER!
Must clear the calendar for next year! Damn the torpedoes! Amsterdam bound!
Hi Mary Ann, I love to read that you’re having such a good time in Amsterdam.
But before you return home, you have to try the typical Dutch speciality;
“Haring met uitjes”.
Its raw salted hering with onions. I love it (but without the onions)
And have you already tried the “patat met mayonaise” ?
Can’t go back without having tasted these.
Go to “the house Van Loon” on the Keizersgracht 672, a very big grachtenhuis you can visit on your own ( no guide) and a lovely garden. In the midst of a big city, an oases of peace with trees that are hundreds of years old.
Have fun.
Ok, so we all know I love you and your art and of course, your cats. And I love reading about your travels. But never have I been so inspired to go myself until this trip you have made to Amsterdam. You had me at cats, secret gardens, stores full of paper, and, of course, plates of mashed potatoes. I am running out now to inform my husband that we are going to do this, preferably at the same time of year, since it looks very pleasant weather-wise.
Cool, you found Vlieger! I spend the day in Amsterdam yesterday :-). Ran into Macklemore, but unfortunately not into MAM… So glad you are having such a great time! You’re in luck with the weather too!
…you had me at cats…lots o’ cats…my idea of heaven.
oh it all looks heavenly! I wondered if you might get detained for lurking around in people’s gardens…but if you were on a tour I guess you were all right! And people who wear tight skinny jeans should not put things in their pockets…makes them look ‘lumpy,’…just sayin…
I posted a photo of a journal I made from your Full Tilt Boogie class, just in case you have time to take a peek…
http://artbeneaththecottonwoods.blogspot.com/2013/10/t-tuesday-coffee-pumpkins-and.html
but you will probably be enjoying the view of the canals! Love your blog and your ‘dispatches’!
Have been waiting for the next dispatch from your trip and there it was this morning! I was lulled along with the lovely photos of cats and scenery and then the AHHHHHH moment – the paper store!! Lovely, I really did laugh out loud. You play with us. Hope you have time to enjoy your time there with 77 comments to read!!
Best to you.
fun fun fun!! What a thrilling adventure!!
I so wished I was there with you… I would try to be silent. Amsterdam is a GREAT city. Loving your trip, never mind that it’s virtual for us groupies. I am sensing that you have a wonderful time…
how does one get to live in that little area with the cats? moving.
Loving your Dutch trip! Please post the whereabouts of that paper shop, I’d love to go next time I’m there. My hubby is Dutch, and my son lives there so we go every couple of years.
Wonderful batch of pix! I’m enjoying the trip! 🙂
Bless you Mary Ann Moss for showing me Amsterdam!
You photos and every word are what I want to see and hear.
Thank you, and bless you!
I love Amsterdam – i love it, i love it, and especially love it when you are rendering it for us in all it’s quirky, accepting, pragmatic, flower child glory. So tell me, have you noticed that on the whole, (ok, tram ride guy was a bit..er…looked like he should be in one of those vampire films as the baddie) Dutch men tend to be rather good looking? Those tight pants however, i don’t know if they needed to stop or go 😉 I would say, ‘ah, the memories’ viz: coffee shops, but..er..well. I did try to compose an email from one once, holy cwap, between the funky Dutch keyboard, and the funky Dutch air…it was comical to say the least! Keep on rockin’, MAM!
Oh, these are such inviting photos to a magical place….did you wonder about those widows, spinsters, etc….what their deep thoughts were? Such a peaceful garden to visit. Seriously these photos are so inspiring….I just want to max the credit cards & book a trip to Amsterdam….and Netherlands. Thank you Mary Ann
You lost me at chocolope dope….and laughing and laughing and laughing. All that aside, how can one not love Amsterdam. Seriously.
Dreamy! How could you nit have a perfectly wonderful time in those surroundings? Breathtaking. 😉
Wow, what a great place! The paper shop is to die for!
loved today’s dose of high adventures and tall tales and I’ll happily loose myself in each and every photo, no corner will be left un-turned or unexplored even if that means I have to sit here for the next few hours or so. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the paper store left me jaw dropped and amazed; incredulous even. You will have no doubt hours upon hours of fun once you return, cutting, pasting and remembering the day they found there way into your arms.
I was in a lovely reverie looking at the photos. Scrolling through, ohhing and ahhing.
Beautiful, quiet gardens, droopy heads of
Fushia, I was happy when you stopped in at the pub as I had built up an appetite. Then after at the paper shop my heart was
Beating fast. What fun to even work in a shop like that.
Then… You hit us with the guy on the bus, WTH, it was like the preview to a zombie movie. Crap, he is scarry Mary Ann, really
Scarry. And what the hell is that bulge on his leg?
If I scroll back to him I am going to have nightmares.
I bet the tram guy could fit into tighter pants if he really tried!
Enjoying armchair traveling with you very much…the paper shop is to die for!
the photos are so beautiful and so happy to see what you are seeing……thanks for sharing…and I would agree I WANT THAT SHOP!!!!!!
enjoy your journey’s……
Mary Ann, you have such a way with you. Wonderful photos, wonderful Amsterdam. . I,ll have to tell you sometime the story when I went into a coffee shop! pointed at the menu and said “I,ll have one of those!” Oy VAY !
That shop! I want everything in it! I want the whole thing, without the customers or sales people. Just ship the shop to me. I love the tape on the floor. I love the thread in the bins. I love the paper. Please. All of it.